Cass's Collection (Dan and Phil Edition)
by Cassodembreankia
Summary: 9) Frightening Phil: I could never resist a good prank. Especially against my boyfriend's best friend! (A collection of one-shots! Ratings between G and PG-13 for le smoochy-smoochy)
1. Four AM Cuddles (D)

**Author's Note: This is the companion-piece to my Cass's Collection Marvel edition. This is a collection of one-shots that have nothing to do with each other (unless it's stated as a "Part 2") that I wrote for Tumblr but wanted to publish here as well. (To keep the rating down, I have censored Dan's mouth in as believable a way as possible.)**

 **1) Four AM Cuddles**

* * *

Usually when I went to England I stayed with some family friends just outside London—but I'd spent so much time at Dan and Phil's apartment filming collabs that before I knew it, we'd all had dinner together and it was after dark so I felt scared to go out on the city alone to get to my friends' home. Luckily, I'd kinda anticipated this would happen so I hadn't taken my toothbrush, hairbrush, and extra set of clothes out of my backpack from the flight over the Atlantic Ocean. My aunt had always told me to keep an extra set of clothing in my carry-on in case the flight company lost my checked bag.

So, Dan and Phil were kind enough to let me stay on the sofa-bed for the night. As I trotted up the stairs into the office after brushing my teeth, Dan and Phil followed me, each carrying a blanket or two. They helped me settle in for the night. "Will you be comfortable enough?" Dan asked.

I shrugged. "Yeah. It's just for the night."

"Alright. Well, we'll leave you to get to bed—assuming you have the sleep schedule of a normal person," Phil remarked.

I laughed and gave them both one-armed hugs. "I'll say goodbye tonight since I _do,_ in fact, have a somewhat normal sleep schedule and you two will probably still be asleep by the time I get up to go back to my friends' home so I'll let myself out." They both chuckled as they trotted down the short set of steps and went off into their rooms. Once they were gone, I closed the door and pulled my trousers off to be more comfortable and slipped between the blankets. Because I was still exhausted from travelling—despite like the whole _day_ I spent resting to get over my jet lag—I passed out almost immediately.

My dreams were convoluted—which would make a great video to tell the Internet about later—but I was woken up by something noisy like seven hours after I'd gone to sleep. Glancing at my watch (which I modified since I'd be in England for a while), I saw it was four in the morning, England-time. I rubbed my sore eyes and sat up, wondering what the heck had woken me up.

" _No! No! Get off my bees_!" Dan's voice was shouting from the lounge. I scrunched my eyebrows, put my trousers back on, and wrapped my shoulders in one of the blankets. Slowly I plodded down the stairs and stumbled into their lounge. "Stop with your stupid bananas!"

"What's goin' on?" I slurred tiredly.

I heard Dan clear his throat. "Er… I'm playing _Mario Kart_ against some people in Japan," he muttered. I smiled tiredly. "Sorry. Did I wake you up?"

"Yes. Why are you aggressively shouting at the TV? They can't hear you," I muttered, flopping onto the sofa next to him. I was too tired to care about normal social conventions so I leaned my head against his shoulder and closed my eyes. He wouldn't mind too much—it was his non-dominant right shoulder. I could feel his arm still moving under my face as he steered his character (his Mii) around a course I wasn't familiar with because I didn't actually know this version of the game—I only knew the one on the old Wii not the Wii-U.

"It makes me feel better about losing," Dan commented. I chuckled.

"Okay, Dan. Okay."

"Would you care to play with me?"

"I am _way_ too tired to comprehensively play a video game," I replied.

" _Stop it you mother_ —" He cut himself off from swearing as he got hit with a red shell when he caught sight of me giving him a look with a raised eyebrow out of the corner of his eye. He knew I would tell him off for strong language—"Mind your language! There's a lady present!"—because I always did, if he finished what he was about to say. And he probably would have rather just censor himself than get another one of my skeptical looks and other telling off. Dan cleared his throat as he crossed the finish line in third place and passed me the controller.

"No way," I retorted. "I can't. I'm too tired."

"One race. You versus me, and then I'll let you go back to sleep."

I sighed and took the controller from his hand. He picked up another one and activated it, going back a few screens to go on just me and him. I selected a character—Rosalina—and let him guide me through picking a cart since I had _no idea_ how to play the Wii-U version of the game. "Remember I don't know these courses, so if I somehow end up going the wrong way, don't judge me," I commented.

Dan chuckled. "Don't worry. I won't."

He picked one that he claimed was relatively easy. I yawned widely in response and closed my eyes while I waited for it to load. Once it did and I heard the engines idling, I opened them tiredly and finally lifted my head from Dan's shoulder. "Okay," I said flatly.

I knew that the booster was the same as the old Wii one so I did that, got quite a bit ahead of Dan right out of the gate because he pressed the accelerator too early, and started to steer with my jaw shut tight in concentration. A quick glance at the map helped me quickly figure out the layout of the course so I wouldn't take a corner too hard and end up going backwards. I did the thing I usually did when playing games like this—unfocus my eyes and let my instincts take over. I could hear Dan grumbling inaudibly, sounding frustrated. I snickered under my breath.

After a few minutes of me carefully dodging every single thing he threw at me—literally—I slid around a corner and over the finish line.

Dan cursed loudly.

"Language! You're going to wake up Phil!" I chastised quietly. Dan glared at me while I smirked.

"You silly little kid!" Dan chastised. I glared at him. I was legally an adult and didn't like it when people called me a kid because that meant they weren't taking me seriously. "Phil is the heaviest sleeper in the world! He could sleep through the _Polar Express_ _smashing_ through the house!" I nodded.

"Alright. But mind your language. There's a lady present!"

"Well, then, you're the most un-ladylike lady I've ever met!" he retorted sarcastically.

I shoved him. There was a _lot_ of truth in his statement (sitting with my knees pressed so firmly together they practically melded into one mermaid entity was seriously like the most annoying thing _ever_ ), but I also enjoyed acting like a princess sometimes and I _knew_ how to be ladylike and _when_ —because sometimes I could expect to be more casual in social situations. Other times not so much.

I sat up abruptly. "I'm going back to sleep. Good night, Dan," I snapped curtly. He snorted. "I will see you next time I come to London." Tensing to stand up, I moved as though to leave.

"Hang on!" he put in. I looked at him expectantly. He turned to face me properly and gave me the biggest, most smothering hug I'd ever gotten from him. Normally, because he was about as unfit as I was, our hugs were half-hearted and wimpy. But this one was strong-armed and warm. Genuine. He was more than a foot taller than me so even sat down I fit quite comfortably into his arms with the side of my face pressed against his chest. I relaxed tiredly against his body and let out a little coo of contentment. For a moment I had a strong desire to just stay there.

And, before I knew it, I unintentionally fell asleep.

* * *

 **End Note: _Most_ of these will probably be super fluffy. Just sayin'. (*shrugs*)**

 **Thank you for reading! If you have a comment or question, feel free to leave one!**

 **~Cass**


	2. Dan's Funeral (P&D)

**Author's Note: This one, if you can't figure from the title, involves major "character" death. It's a lot less fluffy than the other ideas I have for these one-shots.**

 **2) Dan's Funeral**

* * *

I stayed at the edge of the open coffin until long after I heard everyone else leave—or so I thought. My hands were clenched tight on the two zipper sides of my leather jacket. Dan hadn't been particularly religious, but I was, and I was praying that he made it to the afterlife safely.

Most of the other attendees hadn't worn black to the funeral—but I knew Dan would approve of my fashion choice. When I picked out the black dress and black leather jacket, I heard his voice in my head. " _The only acceptable fashion choice."_ It made me smile sadly. My hair was hanging on either side of my face so I had to look through a curtain of brown to see Dan's body, lying there. It almost didn't even look like him. There was no sass. No sarcasm. It was a husk of a being. A shell.

 _I._ _Didn't. Like. It._

Gently, from behind me, I heard a soft voice. "Star." The tender way Phil handled my name—or at least the name he and Dan had chosen to call me—made me even sadder, but also weirdly angry. Like he shouldn't be calling me that without Dan. The way they used to throw it between them like a baseball while I rolled my eyes and got frustrated made the word sound foreign without the fun and fondness.

I whirled to look at him. "What?" I demanded, hostile so I wouldn't break down again.

"I know how much this hurts you. I'm sorry," he murmured quietly, resting his hand on my shoulder. I ripped out from under his comforting gesture and stormed away, angry and scared of opening up about how badly my heart was hurting. "Star!" Phil snapped before I could leave.

I whirled, black dress twisting around my body. "What?!" I retorted angrily. "What could you _possibly_ say that would make me feel better?! This was _my fault!_ "

Phil shook his head and took a single step closer to me. "I know how much you loved Dan. I know how big of an influence he was in your life. This pain is _killing_ you. You love with your entire heart. You always love something with one-hundred-percent. You don't know anything less. You don't know how." As he spoke he took careful, slow, measured steps closer to me until he was only a few inches away. "It's one of the many reasons Dan and I love you so much. Your passion for things you love is always so evident in your face when you talk about them. One time, Dan and I were playing Rainbow Road on Mario Kart and Dan said, out of the blue, 'Remember Star's face when she used to talk about space with us?' We both smiled. So yeah. I know how badly this hurts. But you can't put your walls up now. It wasn't your fault." Phil ignored the frightened look on my face as he gathered me into his arms and stroked my hair.

I gave up.

I started crying.

Burying my face in his chest and feeling my nose pressed against his tie, I let the tears that I'd been fighting during the whole funeral spill over. My hands curled into fists in the back of his suit coat as I hugged him back fiercely. "That's it. Go ahead and cry. It's okay. It's not your fault," Phil murmured into my hair. I choked another sob out of my throat.

"But it was. I asked him to show me the way to that shop. He stepped out into the road. The cab appeared out of nowhere. He was thrown fifteen feet. It was my fault."

" _No_ ," Phil insisted sharply. "It's not your doing. He made his choice not to cross at a traffic light." I couldn't help but smile a little bit. I supposed he was right, but that didn't keep me from feeling guilty. "You aren't allowed to blame yourself. I won't let you. And Dan wouldn't want you to either."

"He's right," a new voice added. I jumped and whirled to look at the coffin.

Standing next to it—with legs fading into thin air—was a half-transparent version of Dan. He was smirking with that little sideways smile that made his dimple sink into his cheek. There was his good-humored twinkle in his dark eyes. Phil and I stared for several silent moments before simultaneously rushing over. "What—? How—?" I stammered. My mouth gaped open and closed like a fish as I stared at him. He was in one of his T-shirts and what looked like his favorite black skinny jeans.

He shrugged. "Last goodbye. It wasn't your fault, Star. It was just me being an idiot," he told me. "And Phil, good luck. I'll be waiting—but make sure you don't join me any time soon, you hear?"

Phil smiled a bit and nodded. "I hear."

Dan gave me a pointed look. I nodded too. "Okay," I muttered. "I'll try not to blame myself."

"Make sure you don't." He gave us his last, final goodbyes before his ghostly form slowly fizzled out from the feet up. He gave us his best smile as he phased out of reality—and a cheeky little wave. I rested my forehead on Phil's shoulder as the last vestige of Dan vanished. At least for the moment, the tears had subsided.

* * *

 **End Note: In one of Phil's Tumblr videos they joke that every time they read FanFiction Phil is dead and Dan said, "Stop killing Phil in your fiction, okay? It's my turn!" So I wrote this one!**

 **To "RussianAssassin": I haven't seen the new CA:CW trailer yet to avoid spoilers, but I'm glad my fluffy writing made you feel better!**

 **Thank you for reading! If you have any questions or comments, feel free to leave them!**

 **~Cass**


	3. Hobbit Hair (D)

**Author's Note: It's been a little while. Sorry. I feel guilty. Have some fluff to make up for it!**

 **3) Hobbit Hair**

* * *

The beach—a yellow, white, and blue expanse that was warm and relaxing. The soothing sounds of the waves on the sand gently lulled me into wanting to close my eyes and relax on a towel on the sand. Inhaling the salty, fresh sea air, I kicked off my sandals and took a few steps deeper towards the water. I stared at the ocean as if in a trance, reveling in the feeling of sand between my toes and the breeze on my face. Slowly I peeled off my sundress and folded it into my bag where I'd dropped it at my feet.

Dan nudged me in the arm. "Ready?" he asked, looking at my bathing suit for a moment.

I scrunched my eyebrows. "For what?"

There was his sideways smirk. "Phil's too scared of the ocean to get in past his _ankles_. So someone's gotta swim out to that island with me! Buddy system!" he exclaimed. I smiled with good humor and rolled my eyes as I bent down and withdrew my goggles from my dropped beach bag. I yanked them around my neck and checked the braid that my hair had been twisted into. All good. I smiled again and sighed.

"Okay. Let's go!" I relented. "But stay close to me." We waved to Phil—who was already delving into the snacks for lunch—and ran towards the water. We splashed in until I was up to my waist and Dan was up to his mid-thigh. I pulled my dry goggles up over my eyes and half-dove, headfirst, into the salty waves and swam a few more feet. When I reemerged, Dan was just following me under. Because the water was a bit murky, I lost sight of him for several moments as I treaded water and wiped seawater off my forehead where it was dripping from my hair.

Until his feet planted on the floor I couldn't quite touch, his arms wrapped around my waist, and he chucked me upwards. I shrieked as I fell and got a throat full of stinging water when I went under again. Spluttering, I burst my head through the surface and splashed him indignantly. He laughed and flicked some water at my face. I hurled a small wave at him. "Come on!" he urged. He grabbed my hand and we started swimming, hold each other's non-dominant hands for maximum strength but staying close so neither of us would drift away from the other in a riptide. Apparently I was the stronger—or at the very least faster—swimmer because I kept ending up ahead of him.

I loved the feeling of swimming in the ocean. While lakes and pools were far easier because there were no riptides or strange currents, the salty power of the ocean had no equal. I didn't particularly like the fish or the coral that I was always convinced I was going to cut my foot on, but I loved the water. I loved the feeling as it slid over my skin like a satiny blanket while I cut through it with as much strength as I could muster. There was nothing quite like swimming in the ocean.

Finally we washed up on the tiny island. Panting, we let go of each other's hands and collapsed on the sand. I panted and smiled at Dan. "Well, we made it," I remarked.

It was very peaceful to just sit there. The island was more of a sand mound that was tall enough to break through the ocean by a couple meters quite a distance from the beach so there was no one else wanting to come disrupt our rest. I rested my head on his shoulder as we looked back at the beach where Phil was eating something out of a "crisp" (chip) bag. He gave us a little wave when he noticed that we had made it safely to the island. Smiling, we waved back.

Part of me wanted to lay back and just relax on the sand, but I knew that if I did, I'd end up finding sand in my hair for the next three months, so I decided to stay where I was resting against Dan's shoulder, both of us leaned back on our hands with our legs extended in front of us. The warm sun beat down on our soaked skin, drying us off.

I looked up at my much taller friend and started snickering. "What?" Dan asked, sounding indignant.

I lifted my hand and tugged on his fringe. "I love your hobbit hair. It's so cute!" I replied quietly.

Dan sighed heavily and face-palmed. "Why?" he groaned.

"You suit it," I answered defensively. "I like the curly!" Dan groaned in complaint. I smiled and wrapped my arms around his shoulders, giving him a big, cheeky, sarcastic hug. He rolled his eyes. I could sense his desire to swear at me rolling off of him—but he knew I would tell him off so he didn't.

"I don't like the curly!" he retorted.

"Well I don't like that I'm shorter than you by more than a foot," I snapped. "But there are some things about us that we just can't change. You have fortune of being able to do something about the thing you don't like about your appearance. _I_ on the other hand, can't. It's not like I can just grow an extra six inches." Dan looked down at me finally, pursing his lips.

"I suppose you have a point."

"I love your hobbit hair," I repeated.

Dan rolled his eyes. "Wanna swim back now or should we stay for a while?"

"Let's swim back, have lunch, then after an hour swim out here again. I like being the only people on a stretch of sand."

Dan stood up. "Sounds good to me," he commented, helping me up as my foot slipped in the sand. "Careful. Don't cut your foot on a shell because I don't want sharks to smell your blood from three hours away and come attack someone."

"Shut up," I sassed.

We waded back into the water—splashing each other playfully—and rode the energy of the curling, frothing waves all the way back to shore, putting forth minimal effort and only moving our arms and legs when the sucking motion of the sea tried to pull us out into the open ocean. I washed up onto the normal sand a bit clumsily, but Dan got stuck up to his ankles in sand, making him barely able to move. I laughed when he yelped in frustration, turned around, grabbed his hands, and hauled him back out. We may have been equally unfit, but I was pretty sure I had more upper body strength than he did—at least sometimes.

We stumbled up the beach and then collapsed onto the giant towel we'd brought where it was spread out next to Phil. "Welcome back," the older YouTuber commented. I waved weakly, panting. Swimming drained me more than anything else, but I also loved it more than anything else, so it was always worth it.

"Hi," Dan replied through his own heavy breathing.

"Lunch?" Phil asked, offering us the sandwiches we'd packed earlier in the day.

"Please," I accepted gratefully, taking the plastic bag in my hands. "Pass me the bag?" Phil handed it over.

From under a layer of paper towels I extracted a few small packages of crackers (biscuits?) and chips (crisps). I handed one set to Dan and kept the other for myself. "Where did those come from?" Phil demanded. I snickered and set the bag down, sitting cross-legged on the towel to start my lunch.

"I predicted you'd have no self-control eating the other snacks we brought so I hid some from you," I informed him.

He looked offended for a moment, but then he shrugged. "Fair point," he conceded.

When I was done with my sandwich and accompanying snacks, I laid on my back on the towel and relaxed. My watch's timer started a one-hour countdown so I would know when I could get back in the water again—and I was going to adhere to that guideline because one time when I was like eight, I didn't wait and almost drowned from a stomachache. Dan sprawled out next to me and ruffled my messy braid—which I swatted at like he was an annoying fly. "Thanks for coming to the beach with us," he remarked.

"My pleasure," I replied.

For an hour I relaxed, rolling between lying on my stomach and my back so I would get dry equally from the soothing warmth of the sun beating on my skin. When the little timer beeped a few times, I sat up. Dan was lying on his stomach, drifting between awake and napping and Phil was playing something on a Game-Boy that looked like it was at least fifteen years old.

I poked Dan in the spine a couple times to gently prod him back into wakefulness. He made a few incoherent mumblings and sat up blearily. His hair was still curly and _already dry_. Mine wouldn't be dry for another twelve hours (and I'm not even joking). "Ready to head back to the island?" I asked.

He nodded tiredly. "Yup."

I snickered and stood up. "Okay I'll give you a few minutes to wake up," I remarked. "Don't want you to drown on me."

Dan shook his head to clear it and shake off the sleep. "Okay. Let's go!" he said, slowly making his way to his feet. After a moment of wobbling as all the blood rushed out of his head—he'd fallen on me a couple times because of it—and blinked and started towards the water. I pulled my goggles over my eyes and grabbed Dan's hand as he stumbled a bit on a lump of sand.

"Come on, Hobbit Hair!"

* * *

 **End Note: EDIT! I realized I never put an End Note on this and forgot to reply to my review on my last chapter. So, I know it's late, but "RussianAssassin": I actually believe I PMed you about that, but I think I could try what you're asking. I think I have an idea for that...**

 **Thanks for reading! Feel free to leave questions or comments!**

 **~Cass**


	4. Stop Right There (D)

**Author's Note: This one, to me, is particularly cute. I enjoyed writing it.**

 **4) Stop Right There**

* * *

"Dan!" I greeted brightly as I strolled into the lounge behind Phil. Dan was in his browsing position on the sofa, looking curious about something on his screen. He looked up when we came in and gave us a little wave. Phil flopped onto the other end of the sofa while I sat across the small room on the slightly-too-big armchair. I went back to telling Phil the story I'd been telling him right before we walked in. "So, anyway, I'm walking down the road right after I tripped over the flower pot, all by myself and I had my phone out so I could see where the heck I was going and I _totally_ walked right into this random guy." Phil started laughing. "And oh my word—he was _hot_. Like I was totally speechless for two seconds instead of apologizing because I was too busy staring."

Phil chuckled. "Wow, Starry-Lee. You sure manage to get yourself into the same kind of awkward situations that Dan and I end up in," he remarked. I laughed and nodded—although I was seriously starting to regret telling them what I had named my favorite old dragon plushie because that was what they started calling me instead of my name.

"I know. But this was ridiculous. He just _stared_ at me for like twenty silent seconds while I tried to get some sort of sound out of my throat but I was staring at him so blankly and the only thought that was going through my head was how attractive he was and I was trying to not _say_ that and—"

"Okay I'm going to stop you _right there_ ," Dan snapped, shutting his laptop with a loud _click_ and standing up from the sofa. I jumped, startled. He looked a few levels past angry—which freaked me out for a moment because I didn't think he was even listening to what I was telling Phil—who also looked confused at his flatmate's heated outburst. Phil and I looked at each other before turning our gazes to Dan in a very synchronized fashion.

"What's wrong?" Phil asked.

"What's wrong is I've heard Star blabbering for weeks about all the cute guys she's almost literally run into since she's been in London and I am through with listening to it!"

"Is it because I'm sounding insensitive by using words like 'hot'?" I inquired.

" _No_ ," Dan retorted curtly.

"Then _what is it_?" I demanded, finally standing up indignantly from the armchair.

Phil started laughing.

" _What_?!" Dan and I both asked at the same time.

Phil slowed down just long enough to make me blush the shade of a Pikachu's cheeks with what he said. "You _like_ her, don't you Dan?"

My jaw dropped as I slowly turned my eyes to the taller YouTuber. His anger had pulled to a full stop—and so had his brain apparently, because he stared at Phil blankly for several long moments with his mouth hanging open. I looked back at Phil—who had resumed chuckling under his breath—and then Dan again. _Is that true?_ I wanted to ask gently, maybe taking a comforting step forward.

Sure I'd had a crush on Dan before he'd even known I existed—but I had always just sort of labelled him as unattainable and squelched my feelings because there was no way in _heck_ that he'd _ever_ feel the same way about me. The notion that someone as well-known as him would have _any_ interest in a very underground online-personality like me was like trying to hit the moon with a bullet from a handgun—it just wasn't going to happen! I was too "conservative", too not into anime, too not into coffee and tea, too fearful and anxious, too different in too many ways. I liked to think that my friendship with Dan was one of balance—we levelled each other out and kept the other's extremes in check. I told him off for swearing if he got excessive—he encouraged me to socialize with people even if I didn't want to—we both teased Phil when he made terrible puns.

There was _no way_ my unrequited pining was mutual—was there?

"Dan?" Phil pressed.

Dan was staring at my eyes with his lips slightly parted so he could breathe.

I cleared my throat and took a comforting step forward. "Whether you like me or not, I'm sorry for angering you. I'll try to make sure it doesn't happen again," I offered quietly, looking from the intense glare of his eyes down to the toes of his shoes. "I'm sorry." I moved to leave the apartment. I'd call Phil later to see if Dan had calmed down enough for me to properly apologize.

Dan's long arm lashed out and caught mine just above my elbow. I stopped and turned to look at him. "It's me who should say sorry," he told me quietly. "I didn't mean to explode like that."

I shrugged. "It's okay. I forgive you. We're both the kind of person that bottles everything up until it all bursts out."

Dan shook his head. "No, Star. It's not okay."

"Sure it is. I've already forgotten it happened." I moved to tug my arm out of his grip and leave, but his fingers tightened. "Dan?" I asked curiously.

He sighed and let my arm go.

But before I could leave, he stooped down and gave me a kiss. It was quick and over in one second. Phil was trying his best not to laugh somewhere in the background but my mind was so far away from him I almost didn't realize he was still in the lounge.

Startled, I froze in place and just stood there for several long moments.

Deciding, _What the heck?,_ I grabbed his shoulders—from very high above mine—pulled him down to my height, and gave him a kiss of my own—that lasted longer. I let out all of that unrequited pining in those moments of keeping my mouth on his.

When I let him go, I took off out of their lounge, down the corridor, grabbed my bag, and then went down a lot of stairs until I burst out onto the street. I stood on the pavement and stared blankly for quite a long time, wondering if I'd really just done that. I wasn't usually so reckless—I was one of those people that always tried to make sure my friends liked me by being funny but understanding or some other sappy crap like that. What I had done back there was so unlike me that I was genuinely questioning if that had been another one of my elaborate daydreams or if it had actually happened. I mean, I knew it had, but part of me was like, _What on Earth is wrong with you?!_

"Star!" a voice shouted from behind me. Panting, Dan closed the front door to the apartment building and stood just outside of it, trying to catch his breath. "Did you mean that? Back there?"

I narrowed my eyes slightly. "Did _you_?" I retorted.

After a moment of contemplative silence from the both of us he nodded. "Yes. I meant it."

I grinned slightly. "So did I."

I would end this tale with some cheesy thing about a kiss in the sunset and fireworks exploding in the background, but that's not how it ended. In a very typical Dan-and-Phil fashion, Dan and I had just leaned closer together—after he caught his breath and took a few steps closer to me—when the door to the building opened again to reveal Phil.

"Do you guys want to order a pizza?"

* * *

 **End Note: Way to ruin the moment, Phil. Tsk, tsk.**

 **To "RussianAssassin": Glad you liked the Hobbit Hair Dan! I love his curly hair! Wish he wore it like that more!**

 **Love y'all! Thanks for reading! Questions? Comments? Feel free to say anything!**

 **~Cass**


	5. Good With Kids (D)

**Author's Note: I'm sorry that I keep sort of forgetting this one. I have a bunch of one shots saved I just don't post them. I feel terrible about it. I'm so sorry.**

 **5) Good With Kids**

* * *

Usually when I socialized with my British YouTuber friends it was at a convention or when I went to the UK specifically to make collabs for like two weeks. But for once one of my British friends had come to America specifically for the purpose of socializing with me—and also for once was conspicuously alone.

"Dan!" I shouted when my friend emerged from the airport. He grinned and walked a bit faster. He wouldn't actually run because he never did that but he strode a bit quicker. Once he got past the TSA guard I instead ran up to him and threw my arms around him. "It's so good to see you!"

"It's good to see you too!" He looked around. "I thought you said your family was going to bring you out since you don't like driving much?"

I shrugged. "Yeah they were, but then my cousin rescheduled her son's sixth birthday party for right now so I'm ditching. You should have heard my girlish squealing the entire drive here. The freeway is so bloody terrifying," I commented sarcastically. Dan chuckled and gave me another side-hug as we got his bag from the luggage claim, walked out to the parking garage, and I loaded his suitcase in the trunk of the car because I probably had more upper body strength than him. I got in the driver's side and Dan got in the passenger side—I smirked, thinking that he must have been a bit weirded out being in an American passenger side when in Britain that was the driver's side. I turned the keys in the ignition, backed out, and left the airport.

"Do I get to go meet your entire extended family then?"

I snorted. "Do you want to?" I asked. "I mean, it's just my dad's side and there's ten kids under the age of ten running around."

Dan shrugged. "I like your parents and I don't mind kids. We might as well."

"Aren't you tired? I mean, you just flew like fourteen hours."

Dan shrugged. "Not really for once. I slept the entire plane ride. I feel fine."

I smirked. "Okay then. Let's get going," I commented.

After about forty-five minutes we made it to my cousin's house. I hopped out of the car, waited for Dan to join me—after he had some trouble finding the door handle in my mom's car—and gave him a bright grin as I jogged to the front door and rang the doorbell. Dan slowly caught up to me right as my cousin's husband opened the door. "Hey!" he greeted.

"Hey Lars!" I replied. "This is my friend Dan."

"Hi," Dan commented.

"Hey. Come on in," Lars invited, backing away from the door. We stepped in and my cousin-in-law closed the door. The living room and kitchen were flush with my extended family. The little kids were probably all in the basement because they were suspiciously nowhere in sight.

"Hey Dan," my dad greeted as my awkward friend stood behind me with his hands in his pockets. Dan waved awkwardly. I laughed, gave my parents hugs and kisses, and dragged Dan into the kitchen by his elbow. Ignoring his confused noises, I passed him a slice of cake and took one for myself. We ate in a corner, me quietly pointing out who was who as adults milled around us.

"Where are the kids? I thought you said there was ten of them."

"There are. I assume they're all downstairs playing."

Once we were finished with our cake, we trotted down the stairs.

There were eight boys all running around shouting and wrestling each other. I bent down and snagged one around the waist, yanking him to me. "Give me a hug, Jason!" I exclaimed. He wrapped his small arms around my torso even though his arms didn't reach all the way around me because he was so tiny. "Happy birthday kiddo."

"Thanks," he muttered.

"Do you want to say hi to my friend Dan?" I asked the kid.

Sheepishly, my little second cousin waved at the very tall young man next to me. "Hi," he muttered before running off to play with the others. The two youngest of the ten were the only girls at present—and usually they avoided me completely because none of them particularly liked me and I didn't know why. But this time they came running right up to me—or rather, Dan. They both pulled to a stop about four inches from his shins.

"Who are you?" the older of the two by like two months asked curiously.

"I'm Dan," he greeted with a bright smile.

"Hi!" the younger one exclaimed, grabbing Dan's leg. The other one grabbed his other leg and they both sat down on his feet.

"Play!" they chimed in unison. Dan glanced at me. I shrugged.

"Go ahead," I commented. He grinned and shuffled off as best he could with a two-year-old girl on each foot.

It took about three minutes for the eight boys to all gang up on Dan—but since they were all under about four feet tall and Dan was 6'3", it didn't work very well. Until one of them—who was a wisp of a kid—climbed up on his cousin's shoulder and wrapped his arms around Dan's neck, dragging my friend down onto the ground. He sarcastically cried out, "I am defeated!" as he drowned in a sea of ten children all dog-piled on top of him.

I was leaned against the wall with my arms folded, watching fondly with a smile. There was nothing more attractive than a guy who was good with kids and liked kids. I mean, Dan was definitely just a friend for the time being, but it did make me happy to see that I had a friend who was better with my cousins than I was. He was laughing heartily as the birthday boy draped himself over Dan's chest and refused to move. I chuckled as the wisp of a kid—who was older than Jason by about two and a half years—broke out of the group of his brother, sister, and cousins to come over to me. Without a single word he grabbed my wrist, dragged me over to where Dan was on the floor, and grinned maliciously for an eight-year-old. "Get her!" he shouted.

The kids that weren't distracted with using Dan as a sofa cushion all swarmed me. I wasn't much taller than them so they got me to the ground a lot easier than they took down Dan. I ended up on the floor right next to my friend. We glanced at each other and laughed.

"I'm glad you brought me to meet your family," he commented.

I grinned. "Me too," I agreed.

We didn't get much chance to talk after that though because three of the little boys started to try to roll me over the floor. Jason in particular thought it was going to be a good idea even though he was a tiny thing compared to some of his cousins and probably couldn't lift my arm if I let it hang deadweight.

When two more boys joined in, they successfully (with some slight help from me but shhh!) managed to roll me around until I was facing the raggedy sofa.

With almost no resistance, I flopped onto my back and sat up. Jason climbed onto my lap and wrapped his arms around my neck. Out of the eight boys he was definitely the sweetest—and had always been one of my favorites (I know you're not supposed to pick favorites but shhh!).

I put my arms around his little back and glanced over at Dan.

He too had managed to sit up after the majority of the boys left him to use me as a rolling pin on the carpet. He had Jason's little sister Jacie—the younger of the two girls—on his lap, bouncing her a little bit up and down on his knee with a bright smile. Jacie was giggling and squealing even though the movements were relatively small. The older of the two girls was watching with her hands sassily on her hips. I smiled like a fool from under a swarming mountain of children just watching my friend be better with my cousins than I was.

Giggling, I staggered to my feet under a pile of cousins who were all just weak enough that I could still overpower them. I managed to make my way over to Dan without getting toppled by kids and sat down next to him. We were both flooded with the kids trying to force us to the ground again—making Jacie cry when one of her cousins stepped on her foot.

Calmly, Dan stood up from under the kids, went right to the corner of the room, and started to soothe the little girl, balancing her weight on his hip and bobbing her up and down while making soft, cooing noises. The boy that stood on Jacie's foot slowly made his way over to where Dan towered over the kids. Rocking back and forth, the little boy looked up at where Jacie was in Dan's arms. "I'm sorry, Jacie," he muttered.

The little girl nodded through her flushed face before resting her head against Dan's chest.

Dan set her down after she looked up at him with her big round eyes and just said, "Down?"

He and I managed to wade out of the sea of children and back up the stairs to the world of adults. I gave Dan a hug. "Thank you. That was so kind of you."

He shrugged. "You're welcome. I like kids."

I grinned. There was nothing cuter than a guy who was good with children.

* * *

 **End Note: This one was so cute. I actually do have ten cousins under the age of ten. But they're from four different sets of parents. This is about as close to how they actually play as I can describe. Haha.**

 **To "RussianAssassin": I promise you I will try my best to never stop writing these. My brain is usually, "Marvel, Marvel, Marvel!" but I do love it when it keeps me up at night going, "Dan and Phil, Dan and Phil, Dan and Phil!" as these tend to be a bit fluffier. Or even angstier than my usual stuff because... well. Just because. XD (PS, I replied to your other ones on the previous chapters and updated the documents when I realized I forgot. You're the only one who reviews these so... sorry.)**

 **Thanks for reading! Questions? Comments? Don't be shy!**

 **~Cass**


	6. Piano (D)

**Author's Note: This one is like pure fluff. Enjoy!**

 **6) Piano**

* * *

It was very late. I probably should have left Dan and Phil's place three hours ago. But I hadn't. And it was probably too late in the evening to go back to my apartment at this point—not that I'd want to brave the city after dark anyway. Instead I was going to stay the night and then leave for my apartment in the morning.

It was probably midnight and I was exhausted. I was curled up on Dan's moon chair in the far corner of his bedroom. He was across the room, near the door, playing the piano. The thing was slightly out of tune, but I didn't mind too much. It still sounded good.

I leaned my head against my hand that was resting on the side of the chair. My eyes drifted closed as I listened to him play. It was a tune I wasn't familiar with but I didn't care. It was soothing to just listen to the piano. I could feel myself drifting in and out of consciousness. I really hoped I wouldn't just fall asleep in Dan's chair. If I did I'd wake up with lots of painful cramps in my knees and elbows—which I didn't particularly enjoy when I woke up super stiff.

My breathing slowed down. Dan moved to a tune I recognized—Fur Elise. My friend used to play it every time she came to my parents' house.

The gentle notes drifted across the room, lulling me into a deeply relaxed state. I brushed some hair out of my face, curling tighter into my ball in the moon chair. My eyelids were closed heavily and I didn't feel like opening them at all. I wasn't particularly comfortable, but not particularly uncomfortable—I was just too tired to move and get even more comfortable.

After the song made a graceful close about five minutes later, I felt a warm hand on my shoulder. My eyes fluttered open.

"Feeling sleepy?" Dan asked. I smirked tiredly.

"What makes you think that?" I retorted.

"Your mostly-closed eyes and your relaxed position."

"Shut up it was rhetorical."

Dan snickered. "I know. Come on. Let's get you upstairs to the sofa-bed."

I waved my hand dismissively. "No, no. Keep playing. I like to hear you play. It sounds really nice."

"Are you sure? Because you probably need more sleep than I do."

"I'm fine. Keep playing. If I fall asleep you can just wake me up."

Dan chuckled and went back to his piano. I let my eyes flutter closed again, took a deep breath, and sighed into sleep as Dan started another unfamiliar but very well-played piece. The music made its way into whatever dream I was having, notes spiraling gracefully through the air and around my head—dancing lightly and gleefully.

* * *

 _Three Years Later…_

* * *

I was woken by the sound of the piano. I was lying on my stomach with my head turned to the side. My eyes slowly drifted open to see the glittering of the diamond on my wedding ring. I grinned and focused my eyes on something farther away.

My husband was sitting at the piano in our bedroom, wearing wrinkled, messy pyjamas with brown hair messy and curly. I smiled and slid out of bed as silently as I could—even though he could probably tell I was awake. My bare toes slid silently over the carpet as I crossed the two meters of space between me and him. Once I reached him, I rested my palms on his shoulders, slid them down his chest, interlinked my fingers just below his sternum, and rested my chin on his shoulder. "Cristophori's Dream?" I asked.

"Your favourite," Dan confirmed.

"Didn't know you knew how to play it," I remarked.

He smirked—that adorable sideways, closed-lipped one that made my heart melt. "Learned it just for you," he informed me.

I smiled and leaned my head closer to his. He picked up on my signal and looked away from the keyboard long enough to let me give him a kiss. I smiled and slid to the side until I was perched on the piano bench next to him. I was a big lover of music anyway, but when Dan played it, I found it to be even better—intoxicating but relaxing and altogether irresistible.

Silently I watched him play. My fingers weren't long enough to span an octave on the keys, but his long fingers made the distance between notes seem irrelevant. He played fluidly and without any sheet music—meaning he must have been practicing this song for a long time in secret.

I grinned and rested my head on his shoulder as he released the pedal on the last note. The sound faded to silence. I felt his muscles relax under my cheek and his posture slouch just a bit. His lips pressed into my hair. "Good morning," he greeted. I smiled wider and looked up at him. There was humour twinkling in his dark eyes.

"Morning," I replied.

"And how are you?"

"Better for seeing you. Yourself?"

"The same," he agreed, leaning down to give me a kiss—and accidentally slipping backwards off the piano bench. I giggled and moved to help him up.

"You don't change much," I commented.

He chuckled good-humouredly and let me pull him to his feet. He gave me a hug. "Yes, but you love me," he teased, playing with my braided hair. I gave him a squeeze around the torso as I smiled into his chest.

"Very much so," I agreed.

"That's a relief," he joked. "Because I love you."

* * *

 **End Note: XD**

 **To "RussianAssassin": Great to know! This one's cotton candy! To "jason (Guest)": No. She did not die. She fell asleep.**

 **Thanks for reading!**

 **~Cass**


	7. Terror at Freddy's (P&D)

**Author's Note:** **For RussianAssassin**

 **7) Terror at Freddy's**

* * *

"WWWWWWAAAAAAHHHHHHH!" That was Dan's unmistakable shriek of terror coming from the office, followed by a much smaller yelp from Phil. The rest of the apartment had all of the lights on, but the gap between the bottom of the door and the floor showed the lights were off up the stairs in the office. You snicker.

They have no idea you're there. Because both of them were a little paranoid that one day they'd get locked out on a Sunday when they couldn't go get keys from their landlord, they'd given you a spare key to their apartment months ago.

Sometimes you'd just let yourself in. They didn't usually mind.

Today they would.

You smirk mischievously, thanking the heavens that their stairs didn't creak and give away your position.

Slowly and carefully you creep up the stairs and listen through the doorway, your hand resting on the handle to open it. "That's horrible! Why do we have to play this with the lights off?" Phil complains.

"Immersion, Phil! Immersion!" Dan replies.

Another yelp from Phil. "Oh he's terrifying! What's that rabbit's name again?"

"Bonnie. Bonnie the Bunny."

"That's a girl's name!"

You can almost _feel_ Dan rolling his eyes. "Does it really matter if the character has a girl's name or a boy's name when it's _trying to kill us?_ " he demands.

"I guess not," Phil concedes.

Agonizingly slowly, you turn the handle, getting ready to scare them both to death.

You silently admit to yourself that this hadn't been your plan when you'd arrived at their apartment. You had just wanted to watch a movie with them and maybe order a pizza. But when you'd heard them screaming from the office with the lights off and the door closed, you just couldn't resist. This opportunity didn't come up very often—Phil didn't like playing horror games in the dark and Dan usually left the office door open unless he was singing along to Britney Spears with his headphones on while editing something.

You take a deep breath, getting ready for a shout that will make them scream.

"No, no, no!" Dan shouts. "Go away! Leave us alone!"

"What is it with these animatronics and their obsession with murdering us?!" Phil added.

You shove the door open with a loud, "BOO!"

Both of them scream. Phil flails and Dan's arms pinwheel—

Before he falls out of his chair.

He lands with a painful-sounding _thud_ on the floor and then just sits there in defeat for several long moments while Phil figures out how to pause their game so they won't be killed while they're not paying attention.

Dan whacks you in the shins. "That is not nice!" he snaps angrily. "We're revoking your key privileges!"

You laugh. "No you won't. You're too scared of accidentally locking yourself out," you tease before leaning down into the camera's field of frame with a wide smile on your face. "Hello, internet! I hope you liked that!" Dan slowly regains his feet as you speak and then gives you an angry nudge in the chest, making you take a step back to regain your balance. He flicks the light on over your shoulder.

"That was so scary!" Phil breathes, panting heavily and clutching his chest. "Don't ever do that again!"

You bite your lower lip and give them a mischievous grin. "No promises, boys. No promises."

"I… I… I hate you!" Dan snaps in frustration. But there is a smile on his face so you know he doesn't _really_ mean it. You hug both of them forcefully around the middles. Phil is a little more gracious, but Dan is grumbling. You laugh at them amusedly.

"Which, of course, means you both love me! Very much!" you tease.

"Sure," Phil agrees reluctantly.

"Yeah, okay, whatever," Dan mutters.

"So, _Five Nights at Freddy's_ , huh?" you ask, peering at their screen. "The first one? I thought you weren't going to repeat for the gaming channel?"

"We weren't… but then Dan decided he wanted to get to Night Four at least before Halloween, and so we decided to record it because it's always kinda funny—for everyone else—to watch us get scared to death on the internet," Phil answers with a shrug. You sit on the sofa-bed behind them, between their desk chairs so you can still be seen by the still-recording camera. Dan is eyeing you suspiciously but he sits in his chair again.

"Well then, by all means, continue playing. It'll be like I'm not even here!" you invite politely.

Dan, dark eyes narrowed at you distrustingly, turns the light off and slowly turns his chair back to the computer screen. You smirk, cross your legs and arms, and watch them play for a while—waiting patiently. Were you not as close to them as you are, you would never have dared scare them so terribly for fear of losing them. But… they were brothers to you. And the job of siblings was to prank each other.

You lean forward, getting ready. Nothing major has happened in a while, which meant something is bound to pop up soon.

Right as you think that, Freddy pops up on the right-side door, black eyes gaping, and you grab both boys' shoulders with a loud, "RAWR!"

Dan doesn't even _hesitate_ to smack you so hard in the chest that you hit the back of the sofa-bed as he shrieks. Phil gives an adorable little yelp and flails his hands a bit before reaching back to snag a pillow off the sofa-bed to whack you in the shoulder with it.

"You are the worst person in the world!" Phil exclaims.

"I thought that title was reserved for Dan," you joke.

"Not right now! You're worse than me right now!" Dan snaps.

You laugh. "Maybe, but you two love me, nonetheless," you say, rubbing their shoulders and giving them both pecks on the cheek. Dan rolls his eyes and Phil glances at the camera like he's in _The Office_ before rolling his eyes as well. Their terror caused them to get Game Over-ed by Freddy, so they were no longer worried about what was happening on the screen.

"Unfortunately, we do," Phil concedes, giving you a reluctant hug around the shoulders.

Dan gives you and awkward knee pat, not willing to admit that he loves you since fear is still etched into the lines of his face. You notice his hand is shaking. You lean forward again and give him another peck on the cheek.

"Okay, okay, okay. I'm sorry."

Dan hesitates before responding, "I forgive you. Sort of. Expect revenge."

You smirk. "I would expect nothing less. _Bring it on, Howell._ "

* * *

 **End Note: It's late where I am so no review response tonight. Sorry. This is for RussianAssassin, who requested it ages ago. I didn't intentionally mean to forget about this "Story" or this one-shot, but I've been weirdly busy. Sorry again.**

 **Thank you for reading! Enjoy! Questions? Comments? Feel free!**


	8. Happy Together (D)

**Author's Note: I'm 100-percent sure that Dan would be the best boyfriend ever.**

 **8) Happy Together**

* * *

"Dan? Will you come look at this?" Phil called from the office of their apartment. Dan glanced at me.

"Pause?" he asked.

I shrugged. "Sure." He hit the button to pause our very intense session of Super Smash Bros, stood from where he was sat on the other end of the sofa from me (because if we sat next to each other, we would probably punch each other when we got competitive) totally getting creamed by me (not), and left the lounge. I leaned back, relaxing my tense position so that the muscles in my back would stop aching from my concentrated forward lean, and fiddled with my controller. I twiddled the analog sticks and spun the plastic thing between my hands. If I listened carefully I could hear Dan's footsteps going up the stairs into the office. When they stopped, there was a long pause. I could hear Phil's voice saying something quietly that I couldn't quite make out and Dan's "Mmhmm"s, but then there was more silence.

" _What?!"_ Dan demanded indignantly, so loud I heard him as though he was right next to me. Then he was shouting my name. "Get up here!"

Confused and curious, I set my controller down on the sofa cushion and trotted out of the room, up the stairs, and into the office. "What's up?" I inquired. Phil was sitting at the giant Mac screen looking at the two-month-old three-way collab between me, him, and Dan—who was standing behind him but leaning past to read what was on the screen. Dan turned to look at me.

"Have you seen this?" he asked indignantly.

"Seen what?" I moved over to get what they were looking at in my view.

They were looking at the comment section.

"This," Dan pressed, pointing at a very specific comment.

 _Who's the girl with them? She's kinda ugly?_ There was a reply to that one saying, _That's Dan's girlfriend. Where have you been? They've been together for like half the year._ And the original person replied back, _He could do so much better than THAT! She's not that pretty and doesn't seem too smart._

I shrugged. "Not that one _specifically_. But I've been getting stuff like that for months," I answered nonchalantly.

Dan's mouth dropped open and he turned to look at me. "What?! Really?"

"Yeah. Ever since you announced that we're together."

"And you didn't tell me?"

I spread my hands. "It wasn't a big deal."

"This is a huge deal! This is unacceptable!" Dan snapped. It was the angriest I had ever seen him. "What happened to NicerInternet?!" He stormed out of the office, down the stairs, and into his room. He came back with his laptop and sat on the sofa-bed. I sat next to him—at his pointed prompting—and watched him go through all of my public social media feeds. "These are horrible!" he exclaimed as he scrolled through my Twitter replies and whatever. "Right I am tweeting these little sh—"

"Dan!" I interrupted, shutting his laptop with a loud _clack_. "It's okay."

"It is bloody well _not okay!"_

I shrugged again. "I kind of expected it. They're just protective of you."

Dan sighed heavily. "No," he retorted. "They _ship_ me with Phil and don't think that you can make me happy."

"Then isn't the best way to prove them wrong just to be happy together? Genuinely? Like, not pretend to be out of spite or anything but actually just be happy together?" I asked, leaning against his shoulder. He looked down at me contemplatively.

"I want you to tell me if you get any more of that," he told me, pointing at his closed laptop.

"Sometimes I wondered if they were right," I admitted. Phil was pointedly not looking at us. Dan looked at me and opened his mouth to protest but I put my hand up for silence. "But it was mostly their comments on my own insecurities. 'What if I'm _not_ good enough for him? What if I make a mistake? What if I accidentally push him away and it's my fault if we break up? What if I'm _not_ smart enough for him?' That kind of thing. But then I come back over here and you're nothing less than loving and happy and I forget about what they said." I wrapped my arms around his shoulders and rested my head on his upper arm. "I'm not too worried about it."

"I am!" he protested. "But I still want you to tell me if you get more hate. And if you do I am going to tweet at everyone telling them to—" He cut himself off and looked down at me. One of my eyebrows was raised higher than the other. The only point of contention in our relationship was my constantly telling him off for swearing—and even then I tried to be funny and affectionate. "— _buzz_ off," he amended. I grinned and nodded. "Promise you'll tell me?"

"If it gets really bad, then yes. I can take a few hater comments—that's part of putting your life on the internet. But if my whole comments sections are drowning in haters, I'll tell you," I promised.

Dan nodded in satisfaction and kissed my forehead. I knew this wasn't the last I'd heard from him about the subject—because he was still heavily advocating for "NicerInternet" and I totally didn't blame him because he had a point—but for now I was free of it. I mean, I didn't like haters, of course, but I didn't see it as too big of a deal. I'd expected it the second Dan and I made the video announcing we were together.

"I _am_ happy with you," he commented. "Very much so."

I smiled and squeezed him tighter. "I'm happy with you too."

Phil grinned at both of us as he spun around in the desk chair with and expression like he was looking at uncoordinated puppies flopping all over. "Okay, you two. Go back to whatever fun thing you were doing. I'll see you in fourteen hours."

"I think your _brother_ is kicking us out," I commented to Dan. He chuckled and stood up.

"Then I guess it would be a good idea to leave." He winked and extended his hand. I took it but got off the sofa-bed without any help from him—we both liked to joke that he didn't have the strength to help me up because he was "horrifically unfit". We rushed down the stairs, back into the lounge, and resumed our game of Super Smash Bros.

Without a doubt it was one of the best afternoons I'd had.

* * *

 **End Note: Nothing to say...**

 **Thanks for reading!**


	9. Frightening Phil (D&P)

**Author's Note: This one is somewhat similar to the Five Nights at Freddy's one, but was actually written WAY before.**

 **9) Frightening Phil**

* * *

"Hey Phil?" Dan called, holding the phone down so he wouldn't blow my ear out. "Will you run out and get some milk? We appear to be out!"

"Why don't you do it?" Phil retorted.

"Star should be on her way any minute to make the gaming video and I wanted to be here when she gets here," Dan replied. I could _almost_ hear Phil's sigh.

"Fine!"

There were several long moments of silence. "Okay. He's gone! Get over here!" I took off, walking quickly through the city with my hood up over my characteristically unruly long hair and in sunglasses in case I accidentally bumped into or at least passed by Phil while we were heading opposite directions. Dan was waiting at the front door when I got there. "Come on!" he hissed. We rushed up the stairs—me being slightly faster but shh!—and into their office. I ducked under the desk and wormed back until my back was pressed against the wall. Dan helped cover my dark clothing with the wires. I was on Dan's side so Phil wouldn't accidentally hit me with his foot or knee.

And, before we knew it, Phil was coming back. "Got some!" he shouted through the apartment. "Where's Star?"

"She called about two minutes ago. Headache. Asked if we could reschedule."

"But we promised everyone a gaming video!" Phil sighed.

"We can make a Dil video," Dan pointed out.

"Then let's do it!"

"No time to waste then!" I could sense Dan's smile as he and Phil came up into the office where I was hiding. They sat down in their usual chairs and started everything up. It was so bloody hard to not laugh my head off. This was going to be _great_. Horribly mean? Probably. But absolutely hilarious? Yup! Completely!

"Hello Dan and Phil Games Fairies!" Phil greeted the camera.

"Fairies?" Dan inquired.

"Yeah!"

"Why?"

"Because Tabitha's workout gear is a fairy suit and I was thinking maybe it would make an appearance," Phil explained. Dan chuckled and I could almost feel him shaking his head. "Today we were _going_ to do something with Dan's girlfriend Star, but she called in sick so you get some new Dil!" Phil continued to the camera.

Dan nudged me in the stomach with his toe—signaling it was time. I scooted up slightly and moved my hands.

"RAH!" I shouted, grabbing Phil's ankles.

He yelped and jumped so high he nearly did a Dan and almost fell out of his chair. Dan and I cackled as Dan ducked down and helped me get out from under my covering of wires. Still laughing my head off, I emerged from under the desk, smiling at Dan and waving at the camera.

Phil whacked us both in the arms. "You're the worst people in the world!" he snapped.

I cackled and looked at the camera—which was still recording. "Hi! I'm Star—Dan's girlfriend—and you actually _are_ going to see me cream them at a game I have no idea how to play!" I exclaimed.

Dan laughed and nodded as I sat sideways on his lap. "That's right—because today, we are subjecting my girlfriend to a round of—" He cut himself off for a moment to think. "Well, first, the Seven Second Challenge which won't be in this video but will be on Twitter later or something, _and then_ we're going to make her play Super Smash Bros!"

I sighed heavily. "Okay, okay!" I protested defensively, waving my hands. "I've played Melee and Brawl for the GameCube and the Wii, but I've never played the one for the Wii-U so if, by the end of this, I'm just rubbing my face against the controller whilst lying face-down on the carpet, _don't judge me!_ "

Dan chuckled and gave me a sarcastic hug while grinning cheekily at the camera. I rolled my eyes. "We won't judge you," he commented, resting his chin on my shoulder.

Phil finally calmed down enough to speak again. "When did you even get here?" he demanded.

"When you went out to get milk," I answered with a smirk and a shrug. "It was his idea." I pointed at my boyfriend.

Dan stood up just enough to _almost_ dump me out of his lap. "Whoa, whoa, whoa!" he protested. "I wasn't the one who came up with the idea! Don't blame me!" I laughed as I managed to get my feet on the floor just in time to avoid falling and hitting my head on the desk—or Phil's knee—or anything else in the way.

"Okay," I conceded. "It _was_ my idea, but he was the one who gave me permission and actually thought it would be a good idea to actually do it. I just thought it would be funny but wouldn't ever have any intention of actually doing it." There were several moments of silence in which Dan and I chuckled and Phil just stared at the camera like he was in _The Office_ or something. So, naturally, I did the first thing that came to mind—lurch toward Phil and say, "Boo!" He jumped again and swatted at me—hitting me square in the right shoulder.

"Stop it! You're worse than him!" Phil snapped, nodding at Dan—who chuckled.

"Alright, Star. We've scared him enough," Dan chided. I grinned at him. "Now, there will be some sort of transition, and then we'll be all set up to play Super Smash Bros!" That statement was directed at the camera lens. I blew a sarcastic kiss in the same direction and then hopped off of Dan's lap. The three of us sat on the sofa-bed instead of the desk chairs and switched the game from Sims to Super Smash Bros. "Right! Here we are! Let's go!"

Dan took his controller in his hand and passed me one.

"Oh boy," I muttered.

He and Phil laughed. I was sitting between them—a tiny girl between two very tall young men. The height difference was even bigger when we were standing up though, so I wasn't protesting too much. "This is going to be good, I can tell," Phil remarked.

I face-palmed. "Let's hope," I said sarcastically before looking at the camera. "I apologize in advance in case I'm just terrible."

"Everyone in the comments are going to be like, 'Wow, Star! Don't you know how to use the controller?'" Dan teased.

"No!" I replied. "I don't! Or, well, I might. I might catch on, but I will probably just fail."

We went through the menu and picked our characters—me being really tempted to try and scare Phil again as he narrowed his eyes to pick a color—with some witty banter along the way to stay entertaining. Dan chose Link, Phil chose Pikachu, and I chose Pit. It was going to be an interesting battle. I hoped beyond hope that Pit was similar to his Brawl form, because then I'd have at least some chance of doing somewhat well—he was the only character I was at least decently good at. I liked Zelda, but she wasn't quite fast enough. Pit was a good mix of speed and strength—at least in Brawl. So I wasn't sure how the first battle was going to turn out, but I was kind of excited nonetheless.

After we chose a stage and waited for the game to load, Phil grabbed my arm with a, "Rah!" I started slightly but didn't yelp or scream or anything. Dan laughed.

"Not quite Phil. Not quite," he commented.

* * *

 **End Note: Hope you enjoyed!**

 **Thanks for reading!**


	10. Twenty-Years-Old (D&P)

**Author's Note: It's before Midnight where I am so I can still post this and say I did it on my birthday. This was a birthday present to myself from myself.**

 **10) Twenty-Years-Old**

* * *

I sat on my sofa in my lounge, looking at the toes of my socks. I sighed and pursed my lips, unsure of what to do. I didn't want to go out—I didn't have anyone to go out _with_. But I didn't want to stay in. Celebrating alone was no fun.

 _"I wanna be the very best! Like no one ever was!"_ my phone sang at top volume. I glanced over at it. Phil's contact photo was giving me a derp face. I smirked and picked it up.

"Hello?" I greeted.

" _HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU! HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR CASSIE! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YYYYYYYOOOOOOOUUUUUU!"_ two voices belted out. I smiled the whole way through and laughed when Phil in particular exaggerated the ending. I took a couple moments to compose myself and calm my giggles before speaking.

"Thanks you two. You're honestly the first ones to call—but that's probably because my parents aren't awake yet."

My parents were like seven or eight hours behind in a different time zone.

"Awww! Yay!" Phil exclaimed.

"So, Cass, is this your first birthday away from home?" Dan asked.

"Yeah. Or at least, this is the first birthday that I've been alone—like, without my family, I mean," I answered. There were several long moments of silence. I could imagine their faces. They were probably having a sort of silent conversation between themselves.

"You know you can always come over to our place tonight. We may not _party_ but it's better than being alone," Phil offered.

"Thanks guys," I mumbled gratefully.

"I like how she thinks it's a casual invitation," Dan commented sarcastically in the background. "Cassie, sweetheart, you _are_ coming over to our place tonight to celebrate. It won't be a huge party, but we'll go get pizza and a birthday cake and ice cream and play Mario Kart and maybe—just _maybe_ —invite a couple other people. We won't if you're not comfortable with that, but we want you to have a great twentieth birthday." There was a pause. "This _is_ your twentieth birthday, right?"

I chuckled, ignoring the "sweetheart" comment. "Yeah it is," I answered.

Phil laughed as Dan and I engaged in a dramatic pillow fight after I beat him in a round of Super Smash Bros. I had my own pillow up as a shield as Dan kept trying to whack me with his. Phil was just watching. He had completely lost the round—and the only reason I won was because I held out against Dan long enough to get to Sudden Death. And Sudden Death was the only part of Super Smash Bros that I was _really_ good at. I'd beaten him with a one-hit KO—and totally made him angry at me.

I was laughing as I fended off his attacks, before lashing out myself and clocking him in the torso with my own pillow as he raised his above his head to bring it down on me.

The doorbell rang.

All three of us completely froze.

"I'll get it!" Phil exclaimed, hopping off the sofa and rushing out of the lounge. I took a few steps back, away from Dan and his wild but not painful pillow flailing—bumping into one of the dining chairs and making it screech on the floor. I winced at the sound, but didn't have time to dwell on it because I heard Phil closing the front door with his foot. "Pizza's here!"

Dan and I glanced at each other before taking off out of the lounge. "Pizza!" I shouted excitedly, running down the stairs and taking the boxes from Phil's arms. I didn't realize that Dan wasn't right behind me until Phil and I returned to the lounge and he wasn't anywhere in sight. "Where'd Dan go?"

Phil shrugged. "Probably the kitchen to get the kitchen roll." _Paper towels_ , I corrected internally.

" _Dan_?!" I called through the apartment.

"Yeah?"

"Where did you go?"

He reappeared in the doorway with the roll of paper towels in his hand—and something behind his back. But he just held up the paper towels. "Kitchen roll," he answered.

"What're you hiding?" I demanded.

His hand slid even farther behind his back. "Nothing," he replied too quickly.

"Dan," I said flatly. "I'm twenty, not twelve."

He sighed. "Okay. Fine. You caught me." Dramatically, he pulled some plates out from behind his back. I rolled my eyes as he and Phil broke down laughing. I totally should have known he'd be a sneaky and cheeky idiot like that.

The three of us ate our pizza while we talked and laughed. I was having fun. Sure it would have been _more_ fun if my family and friends had been there too, but beggars couldn't be choosers. I was just grateful that not just one person, but _two people_ wanted to celebrate my birthday with me—so I wouldn't be going to somewhere like Shake Away alone and then drinking my milkshake in silence and darkness in the solitude of my flat. I liked being alone—I was a notorious introvert—but there were days when I wanted to be with people. And my birthday was one of them.

"So, _Cass_ ," Phil started seriously. "You've now been on the planet for _two decades_. How does that feel?"

I chuckled contemplatively. "Well, I've experienced a lot, but not as much as I would have thought when I was a kid. I can definitely say I've enjoyed my life. I have great parents and great friends, and I think I've become a good person. I like being who I am, and I've learned to love myself and be confident—even in the face of Anon hate on the internet. Not that I've gotten much." I looked at Phil seriously, even if I couldn't hold back my smile. "But what about _you_ , Mr. Lester? You're going to be _thirty_ in a little over two months!"

"Yeah… but today's not _about_ me! It's about _you_ ," Phil retorted.

Once the pizza was finished, Dan FaceTimed my parents and they all sang happy birthday to me. I blushed and looked down at my plate. Phil dodged out of the lounge and returned after a few moments of my parents telling me they loved me and wishing me the best birthday with a birthday cake a tub of chocolate ice cream—my favorite.

The cake said, _HAPPY 20TH BIRTHDAY CASS!_ The exclamation point had a heart instead of a dot.

My parents hung up the FaceTime call so that "us kiddies could eat our cake". Which we did. Gladly. It wasn't as good as it would have been if my mom had made it, but it was still absolutely delicious. I'd definitely needed a proper cake.

Since there were only three of us, there was plenty of it leftover. We'd split it into three parts later so we could eat more as leftovers.

We also ate the ice cream with whatever toppings they had in the house and Phil hadn't eaten yet. The three of us chatted about everything we could think of off the top of our heads—the health of Phil's houseplants, the birth and death of stars (a discussion largely dominated by me rambling about how much I loved space), our expectations for _The Incredibles II_ , and Dan's various existential questions. I couldn't help but grin as my lips got sticky from the chocolate syrup and my brain froze from the chill of the ice cream.

"I'll be right back," Dan commented as he finished his ice cream first, getting up from the dining table where we'd taken up residence.

"Mm," I acknowledged around a mouthful of chocolate, figuring he was just going to the bathroom. Phil put a caramel-sauce-covered spoonful of ice cream into his mouth at the same time and raised his spoon so Dan knew that he'd been heard.

But Dan went right instead of left, heading towards his and Phil's rooms.

Maybe he was just getting cold from the ice cream and the autumn air and going to go retrieve on of the many onesies that he and Phil owned for whatever reasons.

But he surprised me and came back with two paper gift bags. One was obviously from Phil—it was bright blue with haphazard wrapping paper sticking out of the top—and the other one was definitely from Dan. It was a black bag with little silver stars all over it and silver tissue paper poking out of the opening. I sighed heavily.

"Didn't I say something about no gifts?" I asked.

"Nope. You said no such thing," Phil put in decisively.

My eyebrows scrunched. "Really? I could have sworn I told you something last week—"

"You didn't," Phil insisted.

"You don't have to do this."

"We know," Dan put in before his flatmate could say anything. "We _wanted_ to, Cassie." He set the bags down in front of me and went over to the bookshelf next to the mantle. Tilting up onto his tiptoes, he pulled down a small little box with a ribbon wrapped around it that I hadn't noticed before. He set it on the table so that it joined the two gift bags. "Louise, Baby Glitter, Zoe, and Alfie all sent this to us to give to you," he explained.

"Why are you all doing this?"

"You don't have family here, so we're being your family," Phil answered.

"Open them!" Dan pressed, pulling his phone out and starting to film it. I rolled my eyes and picked up the box first.

Gently I tugged the ribbon's bow until it untied and pulled the lid off.

Inside was a pair of beautiful earrings. They were silver, not dangly, with heart-shaped fake diamonds. My mouth dropped open and I put my free hand on my heart. "You guys!" I exclaimed, touched, looking up at Dan's camera. "Thank you all! I love them! They're beautiful!"

"Mine next!" Phil exclaimed, pushing the colorful bag towards me. I chuckled and picked it up.

After pulling the haphazard wrapping paper out of the top, I saw an oddly-shaped package wrapped in more paper in the bottom of the bag. I reached in and pulled out the lumpy, messily-wrapped gift out of the bag. Dan started laughing at Phil's wrapping job, but I wasn't paying attention to the boys. After a moment of turning it over and over in an effort to find a seam in the paper for ease of opening, I gave up and just ripped it open on one of the crinkled spots.

A roll of green cloth landed in my hand. I pinched part of it and held it up, making it unfurl.

"Oh my gosh! A new T-shirt!" I squealed excitedly. My free hand clapped over my mouth as I caught sight of the design when I turned the shirt around since I was looking at the back of it. "It's a _Slytherin_ T-shirt!" I leaned across the table and gave Phil a tight hug. "Thank you so much! It's awesome! I love it!"

Phil chuckled and squeezed me. "Glad you like it," he murmured quietly in my ear.

When I sat down, Dan gently nudged his gift closer to me with his free hand.

He was _blushing_.

That made me curious. What was he embarrassed about? Was it from embarrassment? Or was the blush because of something else?

Eagerly I pulled the silver tissue paper out of the starry paper bag and reached in. The backs of my fingers brushed something soft. I put my arm in a little bit more until my fingers curled around something that felt like velvet. I pulled out a small box with rounded edges and corners that I recognized as being the kind that held jewelry—everything from rings to bracelets to earrings to necklaces. I glanced up at Dan curiously. He was still blushing, hiding behind his phone.

Biting my lower lip, I slowly pulled the lid of the box up.

Sitting in the cushion was a silver ring with three circular black stones in the setting—two smaller ones on either side of the larger middle one. I felt tears prickle at the corners of my eyes and I looked at Dan again. "It's beautiful!" I exclaimed.

He gave me a smile. "I know it's not the same as the one you lost when we went to that concert—" he started.

I cut him off. "No it's amazing! Thank you so much!"

Dan reached past the camera and pulled it out of the box to slide it on my right hand's ring finger—like he'd proposed to me or something. It fit a bit more snugly than the ring that I'd lost at the concert, but it still fit. The one I'd lost had been silver with a small blue circular stone that wasn't particularly valuable—I'd just worn it as an outfit enhancer—but I had felt bad when I lost it. The black stones gave off a faint shimmer in the light from the chandelier in Dan and Phil's lounge as I blinked tears away.

I stood up from the dining chair so abruptly that I knocked it over with the backs of my knees and threw my arms around Dan's neck, despite him being more than a foot taller than me. I felt him bend down to be on my level and wrap his arms around my waist, holding me tightly even though I was squeezing him so hard I was probably cutting off his windpipe.

"Thank you," I whispered in his ear.

"You're so welcome," Dan replied quietly.

"Cass, you missed something in Dan's bag," Phil remarked from behind us, where he had bent down to pick the dining chair back up.

I let go of Dan and gave him a curious look. His ears had turned slightly pink and the little rosy patch of skin that he sometimes got on his right cheek turned from a pale shade to a deeper one. I turned back to the bag and peered inside.

Resting on the bottom, under where the velvet box had been, was a little piece of thick paper—about the size of a business card—sitting facedown. I reached in and extracted it, pinching it between my thumb and forefinger. Once I set the black bag back down on the table, I flipped the little card over to see what was on it.

 _You, Cass, are hereby invited to join Dan Howell for dinner on any evening of your choice._

The black letters were—thankfully—not in Comic Sans, but they were surrounded by a pretty design that looked a bit like twining vines.

I gave him a sidearm hug. "I plan on taking you up on this offer," I commented.

Dan rested his chin on the top of my head. "Good."

Phil came over and he and Dan wrapped me up in a hug from both sides. "Happy Birthday, Cass."

"Thanks you two. You have no idea how much I needed this!"

* * *

 **End Note: Couldn't think of a better way to celebrate than with the two men I look up to so much! XD**

 **Thanks for reading! Have a great week!**


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